Environmental investment in fish farming

Finland’s fish farmers have worked hard to cut their nutrient load to a level below that required by legislation, but this has required compromises in terms of profitability. This project assessed the means by which a further decrease in the nutrient load could be implemented in fresh water farming without losing financial competitiveness in the sector.

The goal of the project

The effects of various forms of environmental investments such as feed development, waste water treatment and converting farms to recirculation technology were assessed by means of bio-economic models.

Results

It was seen that the investment in techniques that reduced nutrient loading were not financially feasible, not even when the enterprises were also allowed to increase the scale of production. The development of better feeds, however, was seen as the most profitable way to reduce the nutrient load. Information about the farming methods of new species is needed for the continued development of profitable recirculation farming systems.

Scientist in charge of project:

Jouni Vielma
Jyväskylä Game and Fisheries Research
Survontie 9 FI-40500 Jyväskylä, Finland
Phone +35820 575 1522
e-mail: firstname.lastname@rktl.fi

Other research staff: Jari Setälä, Markus Kankainen, Juha Koskela

Cooperation: Fish farming companies

Funding

Project work was funded by the FIFG-project “The new wave of fish farming” of the Employment and Economic Development Centre of Central Finland.

Duration: 2005–2006

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